Unitary bottle support for serving trays



July 21, 1959 G. E. RAJOTTE UNITARY BOTTLE SUPPORT FOR SERVING TRAYSFiled July 16, 1957 F 3 INVENTOR.

9- GEORGE E. RAJOT TE EM PW ATTORNEY/s United States Pater 2,895,609UNITARY BOTTLE SUPPORT FOR SERVING TRAYS George E. Rajotte, Manchester,N.H. Application July 16, 1957, Serial No. 672,326 4 Claims. (Cl. 20672)This invention relates to an improved bottle support for sewing trays.

A type of serving tray now much used for carrying bottles and glasses isformed with a circular fiat bottom and an upstanding beaded side wall.The centre of gravity of the glasses, whether filled or unfilled, isrelatively low and a waiter usually has no difficulty in avoidingspillage or toppling of the same. Beverage bottles, when filled, have aconsiderably higher centre of gravity and must not only be preventedfrom sliding on the tray bottom, but must also be carefully balanced toprevent upset of the bottles.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide apertured fiat panels acrossthe rim of a portion of a serving tray or at a spaced distance above therim to prevent sliding or tipping of bottles or other beveragecontainers. Such a panel supported on legs above the level of the trayrim is difiicult to affix to the tray and may present an awkward andcumbersome appearance. When at the level of the rim of the tray, suchpanels engage the bottle in only a single low plane, leaving the upperpart thereof still able to tilt,

The principal object of this invention is to provide a bottle supportfor a serving tray which is substantially within the confines of thetray, but supports the bottle against lateral movement at the tray rimand also at the tray bottom. The two planes of engagement effectivelyprevent any possibility of toppling of the bottle by forming arelatively deep well with the tray bottom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a one piece bottle supportfor serving trays which not only supports the bottles against tippingbut may be quickly detached for washing, in order that the unit besanitary.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a bottle supportwith no moving parts which can be formed from a single piece of sheetmaterial such as aluminum at low cost.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription of the drawings, the claims and from the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view in section on line 22 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of a modification.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the serving tray includes a circular flatbottom 21 and an upstanding side wall 22 having a beaded rim 23. Tray 20is usually made of one piece of sheet material and such trays are oftengiven to retail establishments by beverage manufacturers. It will beapparent that a glass such as 24 may slide on the tray and that a filledbeverage bottle may not only slide but easily topple over in the rush ofserving customers in a tavern or the like.

The bottle support 25 of this invention is formed of one piece of sheetmaterial such as aluminum and comprises a flat panel 26 preferablycoextensive in area with slightly more than half the area of the tray 20as shown.

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The periphery 27 of panel 26 is supported on the beaded rim 23 exceptalong the chordal fold line 28. Panel 26 extends horizontally in theplane of the rim 23 and includes a plurality of spaced, circular,bottle-receiving apertures such as 29 and 30 adapted to closely encirclea bottle such as 32. The panel 26 thus retains the bottles 32 againstsliding and assists in preventing upset thereof in the plane of the trayrim.

Support 25 includes a leg 33, downturned from panel 26 along the foldline 28 and extending down to the tray bottom 21 by which it issupported. Preferably leg 33 is normal to the tray bottom 21 and extendsacross the central section from one side of the tray to the other,thereby strengthening the panel 26 and forming a barrier across thetray.

Additional bottle retaining means 34 is integral with support 25 for thepurpose of encircling and slidably engaging the bottles 32 in a planeproximate the plane of tray bottom 21. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2,retaining means 34 comprises a plurality of cylindrical Walls such as 35and 36 depending from panel 26 under each aperture such as 29 and 30.Each cylindrical wall 35 extends down to, and is supported by, the traybottom 21 and provides lateral support for the bottle in the manner of adeep well or recess. It should be noted that the bottles 32 are thusheld upright by means entirely within the confines of the tray and bymeans which offers lateral support near the base of the bottle as wellas intermediate thereof.

Integral clip means are also provided on support 25 in the form of apair of oppositely disposed curved elements 4h and 41 and a third curvedelement 42, the latter being located between two downturned lugs 43 and44. The sheet aluminum material of support 25 is inherently resilientwhereby the curved elements 40, 41 and 42 resiliently attach on, anddetach from, the beaded rim 23 when moved in a direction normal to thetray bottom. The lugs 43 and 44 engage the inner face of the rim toprevent rearward movement of the support.

Preferably the support 25 serves to fill a major sector of the circulartray 20 and the snap clamping action of the clips 40, 41 and 42 can beeliminated if desired. In such case, the leg 33 and the lugs 43 and 44will prevent lateral motion of the support relative to the trayespecially when the finger of the operator clamps the two partstogether.

A modification is shown in Fig. 3 in which a support 45 for a tray suchas 20 is similar to support 25 in having an apertured panel 46, a leg 47and clip means 48. However, the additional bottle retaining means 49comprises a second panel 50 having bottle receiving apertures 51 andextending parallel to and spaced below panel 46. The panel 50 is bentfrom the leg 47, preferably in a plane slightly above the plane of thetray bottom and includes a downturned portion 52 supported on the traybottom. Means 49 accomplishes the same purpose as means 34 in beingwholly within the tray and supporting the bottles at two levels, but hasthe advantage that it can be stamped from a single sheet and does notrequire a drawing process.

It will be apparent that the device of Fig. 3 when filling a majorsector of a circular tray cannot move laterally of the tray because theleg 47 prevents motion in one direction and the portion 52 preventsmotion in the opposite direction. Lugs such as at 43 and 44 may thus beeliminated.

I claim:

1. In combination with a serving tray having a fiat bottom and anupstanding, beaded, side wall, a unitary bottle support of sheetmaterial, said support comprising a flat panel peripherally supported onsaid rim and having a plurality of spaced, circular, bottle-receivingapertures therein and a downturned integral leg extending across thecentral section of said tray and supported on the flat bottom thereof; asecond panel bent from said integral leg and extending parallel to, butbelow, said apertured panel proximate said tray bottom, said secondpanel having apertures in registration with the bottle receivingapertures of said flat panel and integral clip means, peripherallyspaced on said flat panel for releas ably engaging said beaded sidewall.

2. In combination with a circular serving tray having a flat bottom andan upstanding, beaded side wall, a unitary bottle support of sheetmaterial coextensive in area with slightly more than half the area ofsaid tray, said support comprising a flat panel peripherally supportedon said rim and having a plurality of spaced, circular, bottle-receivingapertures therein and a downturned integral leg extending across thecentral section of said tray beyond the diameter thereof and supportedon said flat tray bottom, the opposite ends of said leg abutting on theopposite inside faces of said tray sidewall to position the support inthe tray; retaining means integral with said support, encircling andslidably engaging bottles in said apertures in a plane proximate theplane of said flat bottom and integral clip means, peripherally spacedon said flat panel, for releasably engaging said beaded side wall.

3. In combination with a circular serving tray having a flat bottom andan upstanding beaded side wall, a substantially semi-circular, unitary,bottle support formed of one piece of self supporting, resilient sheetmaterial, said support comprising a flat panel peripherally supported onsaid rim and having a plurality of spaced, circular, bottle-receivingapertures therein and a downturned, integral leg extending substantiallydiametrically across the central section of said tray for supportingsaid flat panel, a downturned, integral, cylindrical wall extendingperipherally around each said circular aperture to a plane proximate theplane of the flat bottom of said tray for encircling and slidablyengaging bottles in said apertures in a plane proximate the plane ofsaid tray bottom, and down turned, integral, clips, peripherally spacedaround said flat panel, said clips being curved to resiliently snap oversaid beaded rim for releasably atfixing said support in said tray.

4. A one piece bottle support for a circular serving tray, said supportcomprising a flat, substantially semicircular, panel of self-supporting,resilient sheet material having a plurality of spaced, circularapertures therein for laterally supporting a bottle at a levelintermediate of the height of the bottle; at least three integral springclips bent from the sheet material of said panel and spaced peripherallytherearound for resiliently flexing over the rim of a serving tray;integral retaining means bent from said sheet material and including aplurality of spaced, circular apertures in a plane parallel to, butspaced substantially below, the plane of said panel for laterallysupporting a bottle at a level near the base of the bottle and anintegral leg member bent downwardly from said sheet material along thechord of said flat panel, said leg member terminating in a planeproximate the plane of the apertures of said retaining means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS855,565 Greenhouse June 4, 1907 1,863,297 Comer June 14, 1932 2,014,745Regli Sept. 17, 1935 2,048,695 Hasenour July 28, 1936 2,123,257 ProvostJuly 12, 1938 2,237,361 Poynter Apr. 8, 1941 2,296,028 Gribble Sept. 15,1942 2,695,712 Kolander Nov. 30, 1954

